Anthony Heffernan Death: Calgary Officer Won't Be Charged

CALGARY — The parents of a man shot dead by Calgary police while he was holding a syringe in a hotel room say they're devastated the officer won't be charged and they'll keep fighting to ensure another family does not have to endure a similar tragedy.

The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team initially found there were grounds to charge the officer in the March 2015 death of Anthony Heffernan, but the Crown later determined a conviction would be unlikely, so it decided that no charges would be laid.

This is a very, very sad day for all of Albertans and Canadians alike,'' said Heffernan's father, Pat. "We've had a young man murdered by the Calgary police and it's being swept under the rug.''

Shot twice in the head

Heffernan, who was 27, was shot four times — twice in the head — in his room at a Super 8 hotel near the city's airport.

His father called it a "needless act'' and says it shows people can't trust the police.

"There is no justice in this case. Anthony is dead and anyone else who comes into contact with police is at tremendous risk ... because they are going to be supporting each other in whatever needs to be said,'' Pat Heffernan said.

"We can't bring Anthony back, so our main focus is that changes are made so that this does not happen to another poor soul and this does not happen to another family.''

Irene and Pat Heffernan speak to media after a press conference into the shooting death of their son by Calgary police. (Photo: Larry MacDougal/CP)

The family is "completely devastated,'' said Heffernan's mother, Irene.

"We really actually thought in the last 17 months that clear and just thinking would prevail, but it didn't.''

Pat Heffernan described his youngest son, who was a journeyman electrician, as fun-loving and hard working.

A fatality inquiry will be done to examine what could have been done differently, but Heffernan's family wonders whether police will follow through on its recommendations.

"There is no justice in this case.'" —Pat Heffernan

ASIRT said hotel staff called police when Heffernan failed to check out of his room and, when officers arrived, they found him holding a syringe in one hand and flicking a lighter with the other.

He appeared to be in a drug-induced state.

"All of the witness officers stated concerns about the possibility that the syringe might be contaminated and that they might get stabbed or stuck by it,'' ASIRT said in the release.

"Although the officers commanded him to drop the syringe, he remained unresponsive, non-communicative, and seemingly unaware.''

One police officer fired a Taser at Heffernan but it didn't work. As a second officer was preparing to hit Heffernan again with a Taser, another officer fired his gun six times.

Anthony Heffernan was 27 when he was shot and killed by police. (Photo: Handout)

"The subject officer made a quick decision in a volatile and rapidly unfolding situation to use his service firearm in order to defend against Mr. Heffernan,'' said a statement from the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.

"In all of these circumstances, it could not be disproven that the subject officer acted upon a reasonable belief that he and the other officers were at risk of serious or grievous bodily harm, and that his use of force was necessary.''

ASIRT said the syringe — without a needle tip — was recovered from underneath Heffernan's right shoulder after he died.

An autopsy found marks to his body that were consistent with a history of intravenous drug use and toxicology tests revealed significant levels of cocaine in his system, ASIRT also said.

Police working on a 'bolstered mental health strategy'

Police chief Roger Chaffin said the force deals with thousands of mental health and addiction related calls a year and most are resolved by getting help for those who need it.

"This, however, is of no consolation to anyone involved in this case, including members of the Heffernan family,'' he said.

"As such, we are working toward a significantly bolstered mental health strategy when dealing with our vulnerable population with an aim to always ensure that we are providing the best and most appropriate service given the circumstances we are faced with.''

Officer on administrative duty

The officer who shot Heffernan is currently on administrative duty. An internal investigation is underway and consequences could include the officer's dismissal.

Heffernan's family is pushing for Calgary police officers to wear body cameras — something Chaffin said the service is committed to introducing.

"Those cameras would help us understand better what was going on and what people are seeing, particularly in these sort of chaotic environments.''

In a lawsuit filed July 26 Shoshoni police chief Andy Rodriguez was accused of using a Taser on a man whose lawyer refers to him as a "cat guy." A police report explains what happened when Rodriguez tried to arrest the "cat guy," L.J. Faith, for animal cruelty.
"I deployed the Taser to Faith's left side arm. During the attempt to control Faith's arm, I realized the Taser was not having a meaningful affect [sic]..."
Not deterred, the officer loaded another probe, but something went awry:
"As I was attaching [another] probe cartridge to the Taser, I had the sensation of falling backwards... I recall the Taser discharging... a probe had penetrated my right index finger... I pulled the probe out of my finger and was going to reload with a second probe cartridge when officer Cruche told me he had been hit as well. I looked over and [he] was bleeding from the top of his head near the hair line."

Texas Deputy Constable Jimmy Drummond. was charged in the brutal 2011 beating of a young man and his family.
Police dashboard camera footage, released in September, allegedly shows Drummond beating a man who was pulled over for speeding. The suspect's father and mother also claim they were dragged and kicked by deputies. The beatings left the son's ribs broken and his father's face bruised.
A criminal complaint filed against Drummond said his actions were "gratuitous" and "furthered no law enforcement purpose."

Philadelphia police officer Jonathan Josey was suspended last year after video emerged of him punching a woman in the face. Despite the brutal video, Josey was acquitted of any crime and got his job back in August.

New Mexico resident Marlene Tapia filed a lawsuit in November over an incident that took place two years prior. KOB explains what allegedly happened:
According to court records, police arrested Tapia for a probation violation tied to a previous drug case. While at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Tapia said two officers strip searched her and asked her to bend over at the waist. That’s when they noticed a plastic baggie protruding from Tapia’s vagina.
Instead of taking Tapia to a doctor to have the baggie removed, she said one of the officers – Blanca Zapater – sprayed a chemical agent directly on her genitals twice.

In January, New Mexico man David Eckert was subjected to a series of invasive and degrading drug search procedures after a traffic stop. The procedures, which included x-rays, digital anal penetration, enemas and a colonoscopy, were all performed without Eckert's consent.
Authorities conducted the searches because Eckert allegedly clinched his buttocks.

Michael Saffioti's family filed a lawsuit in November after the 22-year-old Washington resident died in his cell following an arrest for pot possession.
According to the lawsuit, Saffioti may have suffered an allergic reaction in his jail cell caused by the food he was given while behind bars. He made several attempts to call for help, but guards ignored his requests until it was too late, according to the suit.

An investigative report released in October, 2013 by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch found that the St. Louis Police Department had accidentally arrested 100 people over the last seven years. The department said that mistakes will happen in a city where officers make 30,000 arrests every year.
But Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, told The Huffington Post that these accidents are unacceptable.
"To say we are a large city and mistakes will happen as if that justifies a depravation of liberty is simply incorrect," Mittman said.

An audit filed in October, 2013 found that law enforcement offices in Fulton County, Georgia are using asset forfeiture money on galas, back-rent, fancy restaurants and a field trip to see Headline News anchor Nancy Grace, among other questionable expenditures.
Fulton County D.A. Paul Howard said he disagreed with the report and said he'd continue spending the money as he saw fit.

A report by the Los Angeles Times in December, 2013 found that the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had made several sketchy hires including a man who said he kissed and groped a 14-year-old girl when he was 28.

Three high school teens in Rochester, N.Y., were arrested while they waited for a bus, but authorities claimed the trio was obstructing the flow of other pedestrians on the sidewalk.
"We tried to tell them that we were waiting for the bus," One of the students, Wan'Tauhjs Weathers said. "We weren't catching a city bus, we were catching a yellow bus. He didn't care. He arrested us anyways."
The police department denied any wrongdoing but prosecutors elected not to bring charges.